"The Pain A Person Feels Inside, Will Express Itself On The Outside."
Corporal Punishment In Schools
Both my poor parents were struck in school.
It breaks my heart to contemplate it.
Here is a vitally important question,
"What message does a child receive when they are struck?"
Now, I was spanked as a child.
Let me state very clearly :
My Parents are both good, loving people.
Maybe people won't necessarily follow other people off the edge of a cliff...
But spanking?
Humanity has a history so filled with violence, spanking seems almost...gentle by comparison.
Speaking from personal experience, I can honestly say that the only thing spanking did was :
terrify me.
make me fear my parents.
distrust adults in general.
do a fair job of screwing me up.
So, to revisit the question,
"What message does spanking send a child?"
YOU are a bad child!
YOUR actions will be severely punished!
YOU are weak! Adults can hurt you whenever they disapprove of your behavior, and there's nothing you can do about it, but do what they tell you, even if you don't agree or understand why. You are just a child, and adults will impose their beliefs on you. Like it or not. Life's tough. Didn't you get the memo?
BEHAVE! or else...
It may seem that I am quite casual about writing this.
Let me clarify : it is very painful for me to write this.
I feel sad almost all the time.
It will be nice when someday I feel like writing about joy most of the time.
That won't be until the world I live in is the peaceful, happy one I know it can be though.
It Hurts The Adult More Than The Child
More?
I don't know myself.
I agree though, it certainly does hurt both the child and the adult.
In fact, I don't doubt it is agony for the adult.
I believe human beings are naturally very gentle creatures.
Our nature is not to hurt anything.
Certainly not our children.
"How much pain must we all be in to be able to even consider hurting our children?"
This absolutely soul-draining question bears asking again :
"How much pain must we all be in, to even consider hurting our own children?"
Pain Dulls Pain
Don't you know the old trick?
Stub Your Toe, So Your Smashed Finger Doesn't Hurt So Bad.
I would propose, that most adults are in so much internal pain themselves, that causing pain to their own children just doesn't hurt in the debilitating way it would normally.
It's like drugs and alcohol.
If you're doing both, the effects of either one are not so prevalent, they just kind of merge together into one general state of numbness.
The Results of Corporal Punishment
Another direct question,
"What message does striking another person send?"
I would say something to the effect of,
"I don't like you."
,maybe even,
"I hate you."
Physical violence is the last resort in the communication with another human being.
Animals know this.
Animals fight only as a last resort.
I know.
Lions and Panthers both club their cubs with their massive paws when the cubs misbehave.
I don't know what to say about that exactly.
What I will say is that, when I've seen it on nature shows, the cubs just pick themselves up and resume playing.
When a human child is struck, the pain goes much deeper.
A person needs to ask themselves how they felt when they were struck as children.
Truly, the answer lies within a person's own heart.
As it always does.
Striking another person is something human beings do when they are pushed to the extremes of their tolerance.
I sincerely empathize with anyone who has ever been pushed to this extreme.
I'm sure your heart and soul were torn up inside.
Corporal Punishment Today
It's banned most places.
Still allowed in some parts of the world.
I personally don't think much of banning things.
I believe all human beings are naturally wonderful, beautiful and noble.
We don't need to be "forced" or "coerced" or "regulated" into doing things that are for our true benefit.
How do you determine "true benefit"?
Feelings.
Truly knowing one's feelings, and this takes time.
Time children need.
Not spankings.
Nor canings.
Nor ruler strikes.
Nor cuffs to the head.
Time. Patience. and Love.
Of course. This requires adults who feel these things in their heart.
Where are those adults?
Among the bruised and battered children of today, who NEED to ask themselves,
"What did I want as a child?"
,and,
"What do I want for my children?"
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Senicide (Killing of the Elderly) Among The Eskimo Peoples
Into The Blizzard To Die
I remember hearing about this custom as a boy.
An elderly person among Eskimo tribes would leave the safety and warmth and love of their igloo and family to die because they were no longer considered useful.
This seemed to me an act of great inhumanity.
When an old person was no longer deemed to be a contributing member of the society, they either voluntarily committed suicide, or were "encouraged" to do so.
"How cruel and terrible can these people get," I remember approximately thinking to myself.
Still, I must admit a part of me, a part that didn't like the way my Grandparents would be impatient with me or boss me around, wondered about the actual usefulness of old people in their agedness, and whether or not, maybe it wasn't so terrible in fact.
It was a small part of me, but one, which I must say, popular culture does not dissuade a great deal with its overt emphasis on the beauty of being young and the mad pursuit of defying old age and the horrors of being condemned to a senior's home, forgotten and abandoned by your loved ones.
Abandoned in a senior's home, or "Encouraged" to commit Suicide.
How thin is the line between the two?
Certainly true love is absent in both instances.
True, deep, love wouldn't abandon anyone, ever.
The connection between truly connected human beings is too strong to even consider abandoning another.
Times of Scarcity
Senicide or Assisted Senicide wasn't the norm by any means.
It was an act of desperation when times were lean.
Often times the elderly person would voluntarily kill themselves to cease being a burden on their family.
Even in times of scarcity, there were tribes among the Eskimo peoples who found the whole idea repugnant and wouldn't allow their elderly to die regardless of the circumstances.
The situation among some tribes though could be terrible when an Elderly person was "forced" to die.
Buried Alive.
Thrown into the sea.
Locked out in the cold.
Starved to death.
What is quite painful to contemplate is that undoubtedly this practice wasn't confined to the Eskimo people.
Elderly people throughout human history have always been bullied by the younger, and continue to be so.
The question is : Why?
and as always the answer is the same :
"All Human Problems Can Be Traced Back To Hurt Human Feelings."
Acts of unkindness committed by the elderly to their young are never forgotten unless they are forgiven.
Old wounds.
Unresolved pains.
Their seeds give bitter fruit.
Hunger : In today's world?
Deprivation of basic human drives ( air. food. shelter. sex.) can cause human beings to do powerful things, both remarkable and horrible.
I understand that extreme hunger could create the custom of the elderly committing suicide among the Eskimo peoples.
It saddens me greatly, but, I understand.
Now Humanity no longer has that particular difficulty.
We produce plenty of food for everyone.
Why then is there still hunger?
Some say, "Human beings are just greedy."
Others, "That's just the way it is. Things will never change."
I say, again, it is because of hurt feelings which haven't been expressed and healed.
When the African guerilla soldier steals the wheat donated by the U.N from hungry villagers at the behest of local Warlords, he does it because he is afraid of being hungry himself, he is angry at having been forced to fight in bloody wars, angry at having had his own loved one's killed, sad at all the violence he is experiencing.
The poor man (or, very likely, boy) is a mass of pain and suffering.
That he takes away food from other hungry fellow human beings is understandable.
When human beings are in a state of extreme emotional pain, their behavior is a perversion of their nature.
Why then does the U.S.A have an embargo on Cuba?
Hurt feelings?
Yes.
Truly, all human problems are the result of unresolved hurt feelings.
Strong Old People : White Hair, Yet Still Powerful And Very Much Alive
Vision.
Human beings are powerfully influenced by the vision we have of ourselves and that others have of us.
A change is required in the way Humanity views old age.
I want to be a strong old man.
A wise old man.
An old man full of love for humanity.
How?
Healthy Food : Young people raised on junk food garbage will become infirm, diabetic, old people. Garbage food must be GONE from our society.
Purposeful Lives : Young people who spend their lives doing jobs which neither inspire them nor promote their growth will become old people who do not feel they have acquired meaningful experiences to share with their younger fellow human beings. Humanity Must come to insure that All human beings are engaged in a role which is challenging and fulfilling. It is too horrible and sad to see a human being become an old person who does not feel they have anything meaningful to give to their people.
Expression of Feelings : Young people who do not express their pain, become old people who have committed all sorts of actions against the ones they love resulting from unexpressed pain and hurts. Then their young ones are full of resentment and angers of their own and the bonds are strained or absent all together. Humanity Must become whole for the 1st time in its history and that comes from Expressing Feelings : and openly and freely.
I remember hearing about this custom as a boy.
An elderly person among Eskimo tribes would leave the safety and warmth and love of their igloo and family to die because they were no longer considered useful.
This seemed to me an act of great inhumanity.
When an old person was no longer deemed to be a contributing member of the society, they either voluntarily committed suicide, or were "encouraged" to do so.
"How cruel and terrible can these people get," I remember approximately thinking to myself.
Still, I must admit a part of me, a part that didn't like the way my Grandparents would be impatient with me or boss me around, wondered about the actual usefulness of old people in their agedness, and whether or not, maybe it wasn't so terrible in fact.
It was a small part of me, but one, which I must say, popular culture does not dissuade a great deal with its overt emphasis on the beauty of being young and the mad pursuit of defying old age and the horrors of being condemned to a senior's home, forgotten and abandoned by your loved ones.
Abandoned in a senior's home, or "Encouraged" to commit Suicide.
How thin is the line between the two?
Certainly true love is absent in both instances.
True, deep, love wouldn't abandon anyone, ever.
The connection between truly connected human beings is too strong to even consider abandoning another.
Times of Scarcity
Senicide or Assisted Senicide wasn't the norm by any means.
It was an act of desperation when times were lean.
Often times the elderly person would voluntarily kill themselves to cease being a burden on their family.
Even in times of scarcity, there were tribes among the Eskimo peoples who found the whole idea repugnant and wouldn't allow their elderly to die regardless of the circumstances.
The situation among some tribes though could be terrible when an Elderly person was "forced" to die.
Buried Alive.
Thrown into the sea.
Locked out in the cold.
Starved to death.
What is quite painful to contemplate is that undoubtedly this practice wasn't confined to the Eskimo people.
Elderly people throughout human history have always been bullied by the younger, and continue to be so.
The question is : Why?
and as always the answer is the same :
"All Human Problems Can Be Traced Back To Hurt Human Feelings."
Acts of unkindness committed by the elderly to their young are never forgotten unless they are forgiven.
Old wounds.
Unresolved pains.
Their seeds give bitter fruit.
Hunger : In today's world?
Deprivation of basic human drives ( air. food. shelter. sex.) can cause human beings to do powerful things, both remarkable and horrible.
I understand that extreme hunger could create the custom of the elderly committing suicide among the Eskimo peoples.
It saddens me greatly, but, I understand.
Now Humanity no longer has that particular difficulty.
We produce plenty of food for everyone.
Why then is there still hunger?
Some say, "Human beings are just greedy."
Others, "That's just the way it is. Things will never change."
I say, again, it is because of hurt feelings which haven't been expressed and healed.
When the African guerilla soldier steals the wheat donated by the U.N from hungry villagers at the behest of local Warlords, he does it because he is afraid of being hungry himself, he is angry at having been forced to fight in bloody wars, angry at having had his own loved one's killed, sad at all the violence he is experiencing.
The poor man (or, very likely, boy) is a mass of pain and suffering.
That he takes away food from other hungry fellow human beings is understandable.
When human beings are in a state of extreme emotional pain, their behavior is a perversion of their nature.
Why then does the U.S.A have an embargo on Cuba?
Hurt feelings?
Yes.
Truly, all human problems are the result of unresolved hurt feelings.
Strong Old People : White Hair, Yet Still Powerful And Very Much Alive
Vision.
Human beings are powerfully influenced by the vision we have of ourselves and that others have of us.
A change is required in the way Humanity views old age.
I want to be a strong old man.
A wise old man.
An old man full of love for humanity.
How?
Healthy Food : Young people raised on junk food garbage will become infirm, diabetic, old people. Garbage food must be GONE from our society.
Purposeful Lives : Young people who spend their lives doing jobs which neither inspire them nor promote their growth will become old people who do not feel they have acquired meaningful experiences to share with their younger fellow human beings. Humanity Must come to insure that All human beings are engaged in a role which is challenging and fulfilling. It is too horrible and sad to see a human being become an old person who does not feel they have anything meaningful to give to their people.
Expression of Feelings : Young people who do not express their pain, become old people who have committed all sorts of actions against the ones they love resulting from unexpressed pain and hurts. Then their young ones are full of resentment and angers of their own and the bonds are strained or absent all together. Humanity Must become whole for the 1st time in its history and that comes from Expressing Feelings : and openly and freely.
Human Sacrifice In Pre-Columbian MesoAmerica
Unwilling Virgins
When I would think of Human Sacrifice, I would think of screaming, young girls being forced onto bloody altars, a self-mutilated priest with a fanatic glint in his eye hovering over, knife raised...
It was a horrible image, and I could only think that human beings had to have become severely perverted in mind and heart to be capable of performing or, even approving of such reprehensible acts.
However, the brilliant invention of the Internet has tempered my views with knowledge, and now I understand the practice more clearly.
I take off my hat and bow deeply to the visionary men and women who have shaped the Internet into the wonderful tool of connectivity it has become.
I believe it is a tool which will help to save humanity...from our long history of feeling disconnected, isolated and misunderstood.
It certainly has in this case, helping me to understand Human Sacrifice as not being the act of senseless horror I had imagined it to be.
Gods Bled For Humanity.
Humanity Bleeds For Its Gods.
In MesoAmerican cultures, human sacrifice was a means by which homage, respect, and love (so rarely is this word found in academic contexts. mistrust of feelings and all that) was demonstrated to the Gods who had generously given of themselves to create the world humans enjoyed.
Flower Wars were wars conducted, not to kill or conquer, but to capture soldiers of other peoples to be used as sacrifices.
The soldiers looked forward to the honor of being captured and sacrificed. They would be contributing invaluably to their people.
That said, I personally think most of them would have been far happier Not to be sacrificed and enjoy a happy, peaceful life with their friends and family and people.
Fear : What One Does Not Understand, One Fears.
I appreciate that Human Sacrifice in MesoAmerican culture was not conducted out of cruelty and anger, but, I do think it sad that Human Beings believed that kind, benevolent Gods could desire the death of other Human Beings.
If I was a God, I would not want people I had lovingly created to kill themselves intentionally for me.
I would want them to be happy and peaceful and grow.
There is the old idea of Blood for Blood.
I would request a person look inside themselves and ask,
"How does the idea of another person shedding blood or dying for my God make me feel?"
It makes me feel horrible.
Honor and The Stiff Upper Lip
"Life's hard. Get used to it."
Throughout human history the idea that emotions weakened a person has been pervasive.
I can imagine friends and family of virgins and soldiers in MesoAmerican cultures who were to be sacrificed, had to put on masks of happiness and pride as they watched their loved ones walk towards their deaths.
They would try with all their might to remember how much honor was invested in their sacrifice and all the benefits in Godly satisfaction which would bless the community.
Yet, a part, I say, the truest part, would be crying out, "This is wrong. I don't want my loved one to die for a God I can't see, for honor I don't truly feel."
"What I do know is that my heart will be emptier with them gone. That seeing them die will cause me horrible pain. That, I truly, don't want them to die!"
How horrible it must have been for the families and friends.
I wonder how many of them wanted to speak their thoughts aloud, but, couldn't, not because of a sense of honor or reverence, but because of : fear.
Fear of being outcast.
Fear of being ostracized.
Fear of being sacrificed themselves to increase their...faith.
What I truly object to and am indignant of is the certainty I have in my mind and heart, that there were not a few, families and friends, in those old cultures, who would have wanted to stop the sacrifice of their loved ones if they could, but didn't, because they were afraid.
The Legacy of Human Sacrifice
That is what I find wrong and Perverted about Human Sacrifice.
I am certain that it is painful for everyone who loves the person being sacrificed (in fact, I would say everyone who is even aware of the sacrifice),
and,
that many of them would want to stop the sacrifice if they could,
but do not,
because of fear.
Human Beings living in fear.
I object to that.
When I would think of Human Sacrifice, I would think of screaming, young girls being forced onto bloody altars, a self-mutilated priest with a fanatic glint in his eye hovering over, knife raised...
It was a horrible image, and I could only think that human beings had to have become severely perverted in mind and heart to be capable of performing or, even approving of such reprehensible acts.
However, the brilliant invention of the Internet has tempered my views with knowledge, and now I understand the practice more clearly.
I take off my hat and bow deeply to the visionary men and women who have shaped the Internet into the wonderful tool of connectivity it has become.
I believe it is a tool which will help to save humanity...from our long history of feeling disconnected, isolated and misunderstood.
It certainly has in this case, helping me to understand Human Sacrifice as not being the act of senseless horror I had imagined it to be.
Gods Bled For Humanity.
Humanity Bleeds For Its Gods.
In MesoAmerican cultures, human sacrifice was a means by which homage, respect, and love (so rarely is this word found in academic contexts. mistrust of feelings and all that) was demonstrated to the Gods who had generously given of themselves to create the world humans enjoyed.
Flower Wars were wars conducted, not to kill or conquer, but to capture soldiers of other peoples to be used as sacrifices.
The soldiers looked forward to the honor of being captured and sacrificed. They would be contributing invaluably to their people.
That said, I personally think most of them would have been far happier Not to be sacrificed and enjoy a happy, peaceful life with their friends and family and people.
Fear : What One Does Not Understand, One Fears.
I appreciate that Human Sacrifice in MesoAmerican culture was not conducted out of cruelty and anger, but, I do think it sad that Human Beings believed that kind, benevolent Gods could desire the death of other Human Beings.
If I was a God, I would not want people I had lovingly created to kill themselves intentionally for me.
I would want them to be happy and peaceful and grow.
There is the old idea of Blood for Blood.
I would request a person look inside themselves and ask,
"How does the idea of another person shedding blood or dying for my God make me feel?"
It makes me feel horrible.
Honor and The Stiff Upper Lip
"Life's hard. Get used to it."
Throughout human history the idea that emotions weakened a person has been pervasive.
I can imagine friends and family of virgins and soldiers in MesoAmerican cultures who were to be sacrificed, had to put on masks of happiness and pride as they watched their loved ones walk towards their deaths.
They would try with all their might to remember how much honor was invested in their sacrifice and all the benefits in Godly satisfaction which would bless the community.
Yet, a part, I say, the truest part, would be crying out, "This is wrong. I don't want my loved one to die for a God I can't see, for honor I don't truly feel."
"What I do know is that my heart will be emptier with them gone. That seeing them die will cause me horrible pain. That, I truly, don't want them to die!"
How horrible it must have been for the families and friends.
I wonder how many of them wanted to speak their thoughts aloud, but, couldn't, not because of a sense of honor or reverence, but because of : fear.
Fear of being outcast.
Fear of being ostracized.
Fear of being sacrificed themselves to increase their...faith.
What I truly object to and am indignant of is the certainty I have in my mind and heart, that there were not a few, families and friends, in those old cultures, who would have wanted to stop the sacrifice of their loved ones if they could, but didn't, because they were afraid.
The Legacy of Human Sacrifice
That is what I find wrong and Perverted about Human Sacrifice.
I am certain that it is painful for everyone who loves the person being sacrificed (in fact, I would say everyone who is even aware of the sacrifice),
and,
that many of them would want to stop the sacrifice if they could,
but do not,
because of fear.
Human Beings living in fear.
I object to that.
The Binding of Women's Feet in China
I'm half-Chinese, but, all of me is filled with horror at what I am going to revisit here.
The tradition of foot binding was a part of Chinese culture for most of the last millennium (1000-1900's).
I cannot believe that parents could bring themselves to wrapping bands around their little daughter's feet so tightly that they would break their bones, and would hear their daughters crying in pain for years afterwards...
Why?
Why this degree of cruelty?
Are human beings just monsters?
...no.
I believe Human Beings are naturally loving, and, even our most horrifying acts are done out of a form of love (albeit skewed and perverted).
A Matter of Prestige and Advancement
Foot binding was such an all pervasive part of Chinese culture, that to not bind a girl's feet was to doom her to a life of social ostracization.
So thoroughly ingrained was the belief in the Chinese consciousness.
The Pursuit of Beauty
sigh...I so wholly empathize with the desire to be attractive.
I have always been drawn by attractive girls (naturally) but have rarely felt attractive enough myself to approach them.
I personally consider myself nice looking, but, not sufficiently so to impose myself, and my "pleasant enough" appearance on the truly stellar members of the fair sex.
I understand the desire to be attractive completely.
I'm obsessed with it, how should it be any different throughout the course of our human history.
Genuinely and Truthfully, Chinese people were raised to believe a woman was made far more attractive by having small feet.
Crazy?
What about our obsession with tanned skin today?
Women are giving themselves skin cancer in tanning salons because they believe that dark, olive colored skin IS so much more desirable.
sniff. : ' (
we poor human beings.
we want so badly to be loved and appreciated and wanted.
we're willing to mutilate ourselves to achieve it.
Why can't we just love ourselves the way we are?
Because as a species we have never expressed all the pain we feel,
and,
we have never forgiven ourselves for the pain we caused.
"Human Tears are like Water. They clean Human Wounds."
Feel Profoundly
Causing pain, is not something Human Beings do without suffering great pain themselves.
I believe, we need to feel our pain, and express it.
It took people who felt the pain of all those women, all those little girls, to finally say,
"That's enough. This isn't right."
I believe, anyone who suffers can help stop the pain of others.
The tradition of foot binding was a part of Chinese culture for most of the last millennium (1000-1900's).
I cannot believe that parents could bring themselves to wrapping bands around their little daughter's feet so tightly that they would break their bones, and would hear their daughters crying in pain for years afterwards...
Why?
Why this degree of cruelty?
Are human beings just monsters?
...no.
I believe Human Beings are naturally loving, and, even our most horrifying acts are done out of a form of love (albeit skewed and perverted).
A Matter of Prestige and Advancement
Foot binding was such an all pervasive part of Chinese culture, that to not bind a girl's feet was to doom her to a life of social ostracization.
So thoroughly ingrained was the belief in the Chinese consciousness.
The Pursuit of Beauty
sigh...I so wholly empathize with the desire to be attractive.
I have always been drawn by attractive girls (naturally) but have rarely felt attractive enough myself to approach them.
I personally consider myself nice looking, but, not sufficiently so to impose myself, and my "pleasant enough" appearance on the truly stellar members of the fair sex.
I understand the desire to be attractive completely.
I'm obsessed with it, how should it be any different throughout the course of our human history.
Genuinely and Truthfully, Chinese people were raised to believe a woman was made far more attractive by having small feet.
Crazy?
What about our obsession with tanned skin today?
Women are giving themselves skin cancer in tanning salons because they believe that dark, olive colored skin IS so much more desirable.
sniff. : ' (
we poor human beings.
we want so badly to be loved and appreciated and wanted.
we're willing to mutilate ourselves to achieve it.
Why can't we just love ourselves the way we are?
Because as a species we have never expressed all the pain we feel,
and,
we have never forgiven ourselves for the pain we caused.
"Human Tears are like Water. They clean Human Wounds."
Feel Profoundly
Causing pain, is not something Human Beings do without suffering great pain themselves.
I believe, we need to feel our pain, and express it.
It took people who felt the pain of all those women, all those little girls, to finally say,
"That's enough. This isn't right."
I believe, anyone who suffers can help stop the pain of others.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
